Local ice cream makers bring creative flavors to new downtown Sarasota area shop
Among the recent round of local restaurant openings is an artisan ice cream shop, making the move from a cart to a brick-and-mortar location and joining a downtown Sarasota neighborhood's roster of dining and drinking destinations.
Great Heights Creamery is now open in the Rosemary District. It's part of the Parkside development that also includes recently opened restaurant Arts & Central, with Toasted Mango Cafe and Origin Craft Beer & Pizza Cafe also planning to soon open new locations there. Husband and wife Ryan and Christina Edwards own and make the ice cream for Great Heights Creamery, which previously operated as a cart that's appeared at local farmers markets.
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The two started making ice cream as a hobby about 10 years ago, then still living in New York. When they moved to Sarasota in August 2020, they decided to try making it a business, starting with an ice cream cart.
“The whole time, I had the thought of opening up a brick-and-mortar in the back of my head, and something always kept bringing me back to the Rosemary District," Ryan Edwards said. "I was looking all over the place, but for some reason, I always came back to this area. It just seemed like the perfect spot to open up something like this, with a lot of foot traffic and more of a family community, neighborhood feel.”
Edwards said the shop offers around 16 ice cream flavors, with nine always available and four rotating, made from scratch using dairy from Dakin Dairy Farm in Myakka City, plus three to four vegan options. Popular flavors include Brownie S’mores (toasted marshmallow ice cream with brownie and graham cracker bites), Yes, Honey (with honey from Sarasota Honey Co. and honeycomb toffee) and Boozy Brunch (maple bourbon ice cream with candied bacon.)
Ice cream is available served on waffle cones made in-house daily, as an affogato with espresso poured over top, or with toasted meringue on top. To-go options include pints or custom ice cream cakes. For those eating there, there is seating for about 8-10 inside the 1,800-square-foot shop, which has mural artwork by Sarasota's Liss Art & Design, as well as shared outdoor seating.
Great Heights Creamery is at 1371 Boulevard of the Arts Unit 3 and will be open noon-9 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays and closed Mondays. For more information, visit greatheightscreamery.com.
Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Artisan ice cream makers Great Heights Creamery open Sarasota location
